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25.7.09

Multimedia Information Retrieval Lab at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, offers a PhD position funded by the European Union in the project “PuppyIR - Information Retrieval for Children”.

Project SummaryPuppyIR (a new project funded by the EU 7th Framework) will provide an open suite of components that can be used by system designers to tailor IR systems for the specific needs of children. Current Information Retrieval (IR) systems are designed for adults: they return information that is unsuitable for children, present information in lists that children find difficult to manage and make it difficult for children to ask for information. PuppyIR will develop new interaction paradigms that allow children to express their information needs simply and have results presented in an intuitive way. It will develop Information Services that can summarise content for children, moderate information for children, help children safely build social networks and intelligently aggregate for presentation to children.

The PhD student in Delft studies the retrieval models and their implementation to support the interfaces and interaction styles specialized for children’s behaviour when accessing information online (developed by other project participants). The student contributes solutions in the areas of multimodal presentation technology, text and multimedia content mining, and natural language processing of children’s texts. Specifically, the Delft contribution concentrates on a query assistance module based on entity retrieval and expert findingapproaches, social network analysis, and, moderated discovery of information guided by opinion detection. Research prototypes are made to extend and exploit the PuppyIR open source framework. The PhD studentalso participates in the tasks to identify what evaluation measures make sense for evaluation of search tools for children, and contributes to the development of test collections for the system-oriented evaluationof search algorithms for children.

Requirements for the PhD student

* Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics or Cognitive Science* Strong technical background in Machine Learning and/or Information Retrieval* Excellent programming skills* Good command of the English language* Sincere interest in learning about how to adapt search technologies to the cognitive abilities of children

Appointment and Salary

The full-time appointment is temporary for four years. The starting salary is ˆ 2042 gross per month increasing to a maximum of ˆ 2612 gross per month in the fourth year. Moreover, an 8% bonus share (holiday supplement) and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% is provided annually, as well as excellent secondary benefits. The preferable starting date is 1st September 2009.

How to apply

Applications should be sent by e-mail and include the following documents (in English):* Curriculum Vitae (incl. publication list and a statement of research qualifications)* copy of university degree* copy of transcript listing all university marks* a cover letter explaining the motivation for doing research in IR, with details of research interests/experience, background, programming skills and the knowledge of data mining/retrieval technologies* two letters of reference

Applications should be sent to Pavel Serdyukov (p.serdyukov AT tudelft DOT nl) and Prof.dr.ir. Arjen P. de Vries (arjen.de.vries AT cwi DOT nl). In the ideal case, those candidates that will be around Boston, US,from 18 to 25 July (during the SIGIR conference), might be interviewed immediately. Please, specify if that is possible in your application.

Successful candidates will conduct economic research in the area of renewable energy in Africa. The emphasis will be on empirical economic applications, guided by theory and policy analysis. Within this area, the candidates will have certain degrees of freedom for developing her or his own research topic. The research project will lead to completion of a PhD thesis. The project is embedded in the IS Academy on Renewable Energy (ReNeW) funded by the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation (DGIS). ReNeW is a collaboration between IVM, the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), and the Department of Environment and Water of the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation (DGIS).This study investigates how policy makers and industry can promote the use of renewable energy in developing countries with the goal to improve access to affordable energy, reduce poverty and increase energy security at the national level while contributing to climate mitigation at the international level. We seek three PhD researchers each addressing one of the following tasks.• Research theme I: Design commercially viable business models for the introduction of renewable energy in poor rural environments, in particular regarding financing structures, marketing strategies and technological specifications.• Research theme II: Analyse (ex-post) the impact of the renewable energy technologies on households, while also developing a domestic household energy demand model accounting for renewable and non-renewable energy adoption in the African context.• Research theme III: Investigate the adoption and diffusion of renewable energy technologies in a selective number of African countries by applying an innovation systems perspective.

Requirements

University GraduateThe successful candidates are expected to have (1) affinity with issues of poverty and climate change with working experience in developing countries; (2) fluency in English (i.e. fluency in French will be considered an additional asset); (3) a cooperative attitude in different cultural environments; (4) an excellent academic background, including knowledge of quantitative research methods and statistics; and (5) the capacity to communicate results clearly to an wider audience. Depending on the research theme, the candidate should have:• Research theme I: A master’s degree in economics or in engineering. Experience in market analysis and business development, particularly in poor, rural environments is an advantage;• Research theme II: An economics degree at Masters level (2 years research master degree in economics, econometrics, or related disciplines) with a strong afinity for environmental economics.• Research theme III: A Masters degree in economics or political studies with experience of institutional analysis.Additional information about the job:The initial contract offered is for a period of 12 months, extendable to 3 years upon apositive evaluation. The salary is based on the salary scales for academic staff. You canfind more information about our fringe benefits of employment at www.vu.nl/vacatures.The envisaged starting date is November 1, 2009.

The position provides access to (1) an international research network with possibilities to collaborate in several African countries; (2) a national and international network of policymakers and industry experts, and the possibility to benefit from insights at the policy and industry level via various events organized by ReNeW; (3) local research facilities at VU University, ECN and DGIS.

Organization

Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamThe Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at VU University Amsterdam has three vacancies for PhD research positions at the Institute of Environmental Studies (IVM) in the department of Environmental Economics. The department has an outstanding track record for research in applied and empirical environmental economic fields, including economic valuation, poverty and the environment, policy instruments and economic modelling.

Conditions of employment

Estimated maximum salary per month: eur 2500 - 3000

Maximum salary amount in Euro’s a month 2612Employment basis: Temporary for specified periodDuration of the contract: 12 months extendable to 3 years upon a positive evaluationMaximum hours per week: 38Additional conditions of employment:The gross salary is minimum € 2.042,- in the first year and maximum € 2.612,- in the fourth year, based on full-time employment. The employment will have to result in a written thesis by the end of this period.

Additional Information

Or additional information can be obtained through one of the following links.

* About the organization* About the function

Application

You can apply for this job before 14-09-2009 by sending your application to:

ApplicationWritten applications should include: a CV, a covering letter motivating interest in the project explicitly indicating which of the three research questions is of particular interest, as well as two letters of recommendation sent directly by referees in separate mail. Please mention the vacancy number in the e-mail header or on top of the letter and envelope. Please send your application before September 15th 2009 to VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences,Dr. J.M.R.M. Neutelings, Managing Director, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam,The Netherlands or by e-mail to falw-vacatures@falw.vu.nl, with the vacancy number on the letter and the envelope, or in the e-mail subject line.When applying for this job always mention the vacancy number AT 1.2006.00231.

* prepare a PhD in computer science,* Participate in the seminar activities of the Faculty with a volume of one to three hours a week,* Contribute to the students tutoring activities of the Faculty,* Help maintain the web site of the research team.

Sahu Jain Trust a philanthropic organization belonging to the Times of India Group announces the 2009-2010 need-cum-merit based Educational Scholarships

In the following categories(A) Inland Scholarship: for pursuing

Technical Trade Courses including Computers and infotech.

Professional Courses (like Engineering & Medical)

Graduation, Post Graduation and other Courses.

Existing recipients of Scholarship will have to apply again for continuance.Scholarship amount ranges from Rs. 150/- to Rs 1,000/- per month.Last date for obtaining the application forms 20.7.2009Last date for applying - 30.7.2009

(B) Overseas Loan Schoalrships(For Higher Studies Abroad)

These are strictly for technical subjects to be undertaken by graduates/ post graduates. The loan is refundable in interest free soft instalments after completion of studies. Loan amount maximum upto Rs. 1,00,000/- lumpsum per selected student.

Eligibility: The students should be of Indian origin and have a uniformly brilliant academic record.Last date for obtaining the application forms 20.5.2009Last date for applying - 30.5.2009

The University of Antwerpis a knowledge centre with 3.600 co-workers that performs ground-breaking and innovative research of international standing. The university takes special care to ensure optimum support and supervision of students, and pays constant attention to educational innovation. The university is an autonomous pluralistic institution that is committed to the enhancement of an open, democratic and multicultural society, and it pursues an equal opportunities policy.

Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology

The Evolutionary Ecology Group has the following position available:

Ph.D.-student in the field of Ecology of Infections (m/f)

Position Description and Information

Applications for a Ph.D.-student fellowship at the University of Antwerp are welcomed from persons with a master’s degree in Biology or other Life Sciences.

The Ph.D.-student will join a group of researchers working on rodent-borne diseases and population dynamics, in the framework of a project entitled “Infectious disease models: wildlife ecology, ecological disturbance and transmission to humans.”This project is a collaboration with the UAs Centre for Health Economics Research & Modeling Infectious Diseases. Changing environmental conditions (e.g. climate) are likely to affect the ecology of infections, through changes in the abundance of susceptible natural host populations or by affecting transmission rates (directly or through vectors). The project investigates these effects, through observations, experiments and mathematical modeling, for five model infections selected for their different characteristics (hantaviruses in voles, plague in gerbils, arenavirus in African mice, dengue fever in humans, rotaviruses in vaccinated humans). The Ph.D.-student will focus on the hantavirus and/or arenavirus model systems.

Your profile:

Essential criteria:

M.Sc. in Biology or similar degree in other Life Sciences,

Excellent study results (top 10%).

Willingness to combine intensive field work in Belgium and/or Tanzania with routine laboratory diagnostics, statistical data analysis and mathematical modeling.

Ability to use English as a working language.

Desirable criteria

Courses taken in population ecology, wildlife disease ecology, mathematical modeling.

An initial 1-year contract, extendable to 4 years after positive evaluation. During the first year, a grant proposal has to be completed. The position can be taken up immediately, preferably from October 2009, but timing can be discussed.

A challenging and rewarding research fellowship in a dynamical and flexible international research environment, where you receive a significant freedom in developing your own research interests.

A stimulating international collaborative network, with opportunities for study visits abroad

Application

Application deadline: August 20, 2009

To apply, complete the mandatory application form, with as attachments your curriculum vitae and a brief (250 words) summary of your motivation and relevant knowledge.

More information and a full project description can be obtained from Prof. dr. Herwig Leirs, herwig.leirsatua.ac.be, phone: +32 3 2653469